


Everything That Changes (Stays the Same)

by WrongRemedy



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-12
Updated: 2012-02-12
Packaged: 2017-10-31 00:10:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/337744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrongRemedy/pseuds/WrongRemedy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Joker has been rehabilitated. He comes to Bruce to restart his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything That Changes (Stays the Same)

It takes damn near 10 years for the call to come through, but when it finally does, Bruce is there to take it.

Only small snatches of the conversation really register, but it's enough to let him know what's happening beyond a shadow of a doubt.

"Just to let you know...full rehabilitation...no signs of the previous mental trauma...fully-functioning citizen...greatest success story in the history of Arkham Asylum."

Bruce thanks the psychiatrist, promises he'll be supportive if the Joker comes to see him, and hangs up.

x

The Joker's name is Jack.

Bruce already knew that, of course, but hearing it from unpainted lips and plain skin and dark brown hair is much, much different than hearing it from the Clown Prince of Crime.

When Jack explains softly that he has nowhere else to go, Bruce wishes he could hesitate in offering up a place in his own home.

x

It takes another month before Jack will really acknowledge him.

At first it's all private dinners in his own room, small nods and diverted eyes on the rare occasion of passing in the hallway, and just enough extra shuffling sounds that Bruce can't really forget about the household's new edition.

Bruce confines himself to his own space, and wonders why it bothers him that Jack doesn't want to talk.

x

The day Jack shows up in the sitting room and says, "I think we need to talk," it's all Bruce can do not to cry out in relief.

What he wants to say is  _thank you, god, I thought you'd never_ , but instead he settles for, "I agree."

Jack takes a seat across from him, and Bruce settles in to listen.

x

"I can't even remember most of my treatments. They told me if I did, I'd drive myself crazy all over again with remembering.

What they didn't account for, you see, and it's really such an  _awful_  oversight, is that I still have to remember everything I did before.

All the people I killed, all the banks I robbed, all the things I stole, all the lives I ruined. I still remember the sights, the sounds, the  _feeling_. It's the emotion, the desire, that they cured me of."

Jack cuts off, laughing, shaking his head sadly.

"I can't even feel remorse for it. No regret, no sorrow, not a thing. I literally have no feelings towards it at all. It's like... they hollowed me out."

What Bruce doesn't say is that, looking at this side of the man he'd always known, he's not sure that hollowing was for the better.

x

The first time they sleep together, it isn't awkward at all.

They've both been waiting for awhile, actually, and when the reality hits - brought on by Jack's  _smile_ , no less, and Bruce's reaction to seeing that scarred face showing true, actual happiness - it's nothing that even needs thinking about.

It's quiet, but no less intense. It's oddly tender, in some ways, but Bruce knows it's not his imagination that some of their long-buried anger and violence is burning just below the surface.

When it's over, Jack smiles again. Bruce sees none of the Joker in that face, and god, he has  _never_  been happier.

x

A week after they get together - for lack of a better term - Bruce realizes that Jack is still a little crazy.

Crazy in a good way, though, with lots of little quirks and  _so_  much personality, Bruce can never be bored with him.

And maybe some people would say that's a bit of the Joker, still lingering there, somewhere deep in Jack's mind. But if that's true, then Bruce is just fine with that.

x

After six months of them together, Bruce makes a list of similarities between the Joker and Jack.

Jack still licks his lips a lot, with quick darts of his tongue when he thinks no one's looking. But anyone would do that with the scars on that mouth.

When one of them is on top of the other, pinning them down and grinding and teasing, the glint in Jack's eyes catches Bruce off-guard, because he can remember so clearly seeing it when the fought, buried behind greasepaint and hidden by acid-green hair.

The horrible, insane, Joker laugh still slips out sometimes. Jack tells a joke, or reads something funny, and his giggle dissolves into something far more sinister. He cuts himself off as soon as he realizes, but for that one little second, there's no denying that sound that used to haunt Bruce's dreams.

Jack will go to say his name, and the word "Bat" will get formed before he switches his tone. Bruce pretends not to notice, but every time, he can't help but wonder if he's ever accidentally said "Joker."

x

It takes over a year and a half for Jack to agree to go out in public on Bruce's arm.

They're the lead story on the damn news, and Bruce doesn't know why that bothers him so much.

Part of him is proud of the way Jack handles himself; is proud to see the impressed faces, to know that everyone else knows now what he's known for much longer. That Jack is a person too, that he  _can_  be loved, and he _can_  give that love back.

They all know now that the Joker is no more; that he's changed himself, and Bruce Wayne has changed him, and that he has changed Bruce Wayne.

When they go home that night, Bruce takes the time to tell him that, to make sure he knows just how well he's done. He kisses the scars that run along Jack's cheeks, and feels it under his lips when the carved-in smile curves around a real one.


End file.
